


Coming home

by hatebeat



Category: Hunter X Hunter
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-04
Updated: 2016-10-04
Packaged: 2018-08-19 14:54:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,441
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8213122
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hatebeat/pseuds/hatebeat
Summary: Kalluto begins to warm to his new family. Set after Feitan's battle with Zazan.





	

**Author's Note:**

> This is best read on a computer rather than on a phone. There is a little bit of non-English text, and you can hover over it with your mouse to read an English translation. I'll add translations in the ending notes as well, however, just in case you'd still like to read it on a mouseless device.

The sun was sinking, and Kalluto’s kimono was nearly ruined. The damage hadn’t been done by the battle with the Ants, of course, but from trekking through this literal dump. The stench which had overwhelmed him upon arrival, however, was no longer troubling him. There was little official infrastructure that he could see in Meteor City, as the citizens had few consistent or appropriate materials to build with, but there were plenty of primitive huts and tents propped up throughout the waste.

It wasn’t an ideal way to live, but since joining the Troupe, Kalluto hadn’t been able to enjoy any of the comforts typical of his home in Dentora. He'd seen glimpses of the lifestyles lived by his fellow Spiders and been trying to emulate them.

“What is next?” Kalluto asked, reminding himself that he couldn’t be timid with his comrades. None of them seemed to have a single inhibition, but Kalluto's upbringing had led him to be quite reserved. A quiet strength was appropriate for an assassin. But that was not the way of these spiders, many of whom were not quiet at all. And now that he’d seen such an impressive display of power from them, he knew for certain that silence did not have to always go hand in hand with strength. His whole life, he’d believed that his family was the most powerful in the world, that they were right about everything.

Honestly, it left him feeling quite small.

“What do you mean?” Phinks asked, eyeing him a bit too intensely. It was off-putting. Kalluto suddenly remembered how Phinks had carried him out of the Ant nest, though. Perhaps he only appeared to be intimidating. Perhaps he couldn't control it. Perhaps he didn't want to.

“The job is done, so we can relax for a while,” Shalnark explained cheerfully.

Relax? Kalluto hadn’t joined the Troupe to relax. He had to locate Killua. Had to bring Killua home.

“You’ll be staying here?” Kalluto had only been a member for a short time, but he knew enough to know that the Phantom Troupe considered Meteor City to be home. That was why they had come here: to defend it.

“Go back to your home if you want,” Feitan said, not sparing him half a glance.

“You’re free to do what you want until we finally hear from the boss again,” Phinks explained.

Kalluto remained quiet for a moment. They were heading somewhere specific, though how they knew where they were going through this endless expanse of trash, Kalluto would never know. Still, he was… enjoying? Yes, perhaps he was... He was _enjoying_ being away from home, even with living conditions so substandard.

“I’ll stay,” he decided.

 

Stars spread across the sky as the six of them gathered around a fire pit with a handful of Meteor City's residents. They were being regarded as heroes for freeing the city from the Ants, and in return, were being fed. Kalluto wondered if the food would be safe to eat. It seemed as if the Troupe was comfortable eating such fare, so he would try to be as well.

From what he gathered, the Troupe seemed to hold a high status not only after rescuing the city, but any time they decided to come home. This was Kalluto's first time visiting, however, and the citizens didn't know him yet.

Kalluto was in no hurry to reveal himself as Zoldyck. He spent his dinner in silence as the others enjoyed themselves almost as if they were normal people, which was mind-boggling given how strong they were. Kalluto was sure nobody would ever spend time around his own family and think that they were normal people.

"If you have a home, why do you choose to stay?"

Kalluto looked up, startled, at Feitan to his left. Feitan was the only one of them who had stayed relatively quiet throughout their meal. He was always relatively quiet, and until today, Kalluto had felt that Feitan might be the one most similar to him. But after seeing his display of power...

Kalluto couldn't help feeling somewhat insignificant. Perhaps he _should_ go home. He needed more training. Wasn't Kukuroo Mountain the best place to receive that training?

He wasn't about to sound so pathetic to his associate, however.

"I'm a member of the Troupe now, so I will stay with the Troupe."

"We don't stay together all the time," Feitan said dispassionately. "That would get annoying."

Annoying. Kalluto truly was confused by these people. They were, for all intents and purposes, a family. A boisterous, chaotic, and powerful family. Yet Kalluto remembered Feitan fighting earlier, and how nobody even thought to help him when he started to take damage.

The Phantom Troupe was actually terrifying.

"But you all live here?" Kalluto pressed. Perhaps he would have to take up residence as well. At least until he managed to locate Killua. He had already gotten used to the stench. Perhaps it would be livable.

"Most.”

“Not all of us were born here, though,” said a voice to his right. Bonolenov. Kalluto hadn’t thought anyone else was listening in on them. “Some were dumped here. I came willingly. Even for me, it has become a second home.”

Kalluto took a bite of the beans and rice that he'd been given, contemplating that. Could he ever truly consider a place like this home? He didn't think so. Rather, he wasn’t sure. He couldn't even imagine what his big brother Illumi would say if he saw Kalluto here.

"We'll have to get Asten to look at that arm of yours," one of the residents began to fuss as she filled Feitan's plate.

"It will heal," Feitan protested quietly.

"Nonsense, let us take care of you."

"We owe you, after all."

"Just let them," Phinks grunted from Feitan's other side. Feitan said nothing.

They were _really_ a family, Kalluto was realising. Not only the Troupe, but everyone here. They were a family in a much different way than the Zoldyck family, but they were a family nonetheless. Nobody at home had ever fussed over Kalluto's broken bones.

 

 

He was given blankets and a place to sleep in an area underground. He'd learned that there were many entrances to shelters beneath the surface of Meteor City, but because the garbage constantly shifted and new trash was dumped every day, they were frequently covered and new ones had to be constructed. The underground was no more inviting than above ground, Kalluto found, yet in the darkness, something about it reminded him of home. Well, his bed at home was far more comfortable.

Kalluto shared a cell with Phinks and Feitan. Shizuku and Shalnark were closeby, and Bonolenov was above the surface, preferring to keep the stars in sight. 

Restless, Kalluto laid awake for a long time, rolling this way and that. It was uncomfortable to sleep on the ground, and he was such a light sleeper that even if he fell asleep for a moment, a sound soon woke him. The unrelenting sound of Phinks’ heavy breathing began to frustrate him. 

“You get used to it,” said a sudden, soft voice to his left.

Kalluto bristled. He could sleep anywhere he wanted. As an assassin, he had to be able to adapt to his surroundings, no matter what they were. Besides, even if he couldn't fall asleep, it was possible for him to go days without it. 

“Yes, I will.” He paused, closed his eyes, then said, “ _Imusayo._ ”

“What?” Feitan asked, and even in the darkness, Kalluto could feel Feitan’s stare.

“You speak Minboan, correct?” 

Feitan made a noise of affirmation.

“Then you know what I said,” Kalluto said, rolling over to face away from him. For some reason, his face felt hot.

“ _Uretisho Minbo ezan_?” Feitan asked, sounding just as distant and bored as ever. “ _Attomot atikarak Jappon_.”

“ _Atikarak Padokea. Attaran arakufos_.”

Apart from Phinks’ breathing and sounds of movement from adjacent cells, silence followed, and Kalluto had finally found a somewhat comfortable position. Or at least, the fleeting embarrassment had distracted him from the discomfort of the ground beneath him. He accepted that Feitan had little else to say. Kalluto wasn't accustomed to people wasting words, after all. The silence grew, and sleep slowly began to creep over him.

“ _Imusayo_ ,” Feitan said after some time.

He smiled, and let himself drift off. Kalluto couldn’t be sure what Feitan thought, but to him, there was some sort of closeness that came from sharing a language with somebody. And somebody as strong as Feitan was worth becoming close with.

Even if big brother Illumi had specifically told him that assassins shouldn’t make friends.

**Author's Note:**

> Translations:  
> 1\. Goodnight  
> 2\. Why do you know Minboan?  
> 3\. I thought you were from Jappon  
> 4\. I'm from Padokea. And I learned it from my grandfather.  
> 5\. Goodnight


End file.
